It is toward the sacred Ka'abah -- a black cube-shaped stone in the square of the Holy Mosque in Makkah -- that Muslims turn in prayer five times a day. Every Muslim must pray these five prayers and, in Saudi Arabia, offices and shops are obliged to close during those times. Exact prayer times are published in daily newspapers and occur at dawn (fajr), midday (dhuhr), mid-afternoon (asir), sunset (maghreb) and evening (isha).
The Holy Quran is the sacred scripture of Islam, revealed by Allah to His Prophet Mohammed. Islam consists of adherence to the Quran and the duty to believe and follow what are called the Five Pillars of Islam:
The First Pillar is the profession of faith -- shahada: There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.
The Second Pillar is prayer -- salah. Prayer is to be performed according to prescribed rituals at appointed times each day. At the time of prayer, the individual must face the Holy Ka'abah in Makkah.
The Third Pillar is almsgiving -- zakat. This mandates payment of a fixed proportion of a Muslim's possessions for the welfare of the entire community and especially for its neediest members.
The Fourth Pillar is fasting -- sawm. During the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan, Muslims must abstain from all food, drink and sexual activity from dawn to sunset.
The Fifth Pillar is the pilgrimage to Makkah -- hajj. At least once in a lifetime, Muslims should make the journey to Makkah. In fact large numbers of Muslims from all over the world come to Makkah each year in the performance of Hajj. Saudi Arabia dedicates considerable resources, both human and financial, to enable these Muslims to perform their Hajj in comfort and safety.
To the people of Saudi Arabia, Makkah, the birthplace of Islam and the prophet Mohammed, as well as Madina, where the Prophet's Mosque and his burial place are located, are holy cities. And because of this, none except Muslims may enter these two cities.
Recognizing the unique and historic traditions represented by these two holy sites, King Fahd has adopted the official title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques as an expression of his deep sense of responsibility to Islam and to all Muslims.
The Hajj
The Hajj differs considerably from Umrah, which is an individual act of pilgrimage to Makkah made by Muslims at any other time of the year. Hajj is the worldwide gathering of the family of Islam in a devout and lengthy act of corporate worship, regardless of social status, wealth, nationality or colour. It is an invitation open to every Muslim, with all rivalries forgotten, and with full safety guaranteed for every pilgrim.
To symbolise the brotherhood of Islam, each pilgrim approaches the holy places dressed exactly alike: an unseamed length of white cloth girded around the waist with a cord and another draped across the left shoulder.
The pilgrim's aim is to reach the Holy Kaaba in Makkah's Grand or Inviolable Mosque, and the nearby landmarks honoured for their association with Ibrahim (Abraham), his wife Haggar, their son Ismail (Ishmael), and the Prophet Mohammed.
The Kaaba is, quite literally, the focus of Islam, as it is the direction every Muslim must face each time he prays. A simple cube-shaped building, 50 feet (15 metres) high, it is revered as the House of God, and was built, on the order of Allah, by Ibrahim and Ismail. One corner holds the famous Black Stone (Al-Hajar al-Aswad), protected by a huge silver frame.
The Kaaba is draped with a black silk covering, the Kiswa, beautifully embroidered with Quranic texts in gold and silver. This is replaced every year in a special ceremony which takes place one month before the Hajj.
The major rites of Hajj which are performed by Muslims today were established in the days of the Prophet Ibrahim, who built the Kaaba and made Makkah a place of pilgrimage. These rites include Tawaf, the sevenfold circling of the Kaaba, originating from Allah's command that Ibrahim take his wife Haggar and their son Ismail into the desert to entrust them to the protection of Allah. In a desperate search for water, Haggar ran seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah before beseeching the help of Allah, whereupon the well of Zam Zam burst forth at her feet. Hajj pilgrims have ever since evoked this story in their sevenfold running between Safa and Marwah. This is known as the rite of Saiy ('striving').
The abandoning of Haggar and Ismail was only one of Allah's many ways of testing Ibrahim's faith. Others are remembered by the three rocky pillars at Mina, about 3.7 miles/6km east of Makkah. Each pilgrim collects seven stones on the slopes of Muzdalifah hill, and uses them in a ritual stoning of the three pillars, which are known as 'satans'. The ritual is known as Jamarat and follows the sacrifice of a sheep by every pilgrim who can afford it. The sacrifice takes place in memory of that offered by Ibrahim at Allah's command.
The most important ritual of Hajj takes place at Arafat, 10 miles/16km from the Kaaba in Makkah. This is Wukuf, when the pilgrims spend the best part of a night and a day standing in prayer on the Arafat plain. Here they also meditate and hear sermons, according to the command of the Prophet.
Every year, pilgrims begin to arrive in Saudi Arabia about two months before the beginning of Dhul Hijjah. Most of them arrive in Jeddah, whose seaport has received pilgrims by ship for many centuries from the furthest corners of the Islamic world. More recently, the superb, custom-built Hajj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA) has given an enormous boost to the flow of pilgrim traffic since its opening in 1981.
Pilgrims must register with a mutawwif or pilgrims' guide and, although pilgrims may prefer to perform their Hajj on their own, the mutawwif is responsible for them during their stay in the Kingdom. He plays an important role in arranging accommodation, transport, food and water.
After registration, pilgrims are transferred to the Pilgrims' City at KAIA, or to another at Jeddah seaport, where there are facilities for short-term accommodation.
The usual form of transport from Jeddah to Makkah is by bus. The Government Pilgrims' Transportation Service is just one of the many facilities funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for use by pilgrims. Care of pilgrims is a solemn duty commanded by the Prophet for all Muslims, a duty which is most proudly and generously upheld by the Kingdom today with the provision of more facilities every year. Many of these facilities are funded by the King himself, one of the most important of which is the distribution of millions of bags of iced water prepared, at the King's expense, at a special factory in Makkah. Other services which are of great benefit to pilgrims include mobile facilities for banking and telecommunications.
Quarters are assigned to the pilgrim when he first arrives in Makkah. Then his first duty is to enter the Grand Mosque and circle the Kaaba in the Tawaf of 'Arrival' (qudum). The beginning of the month Dhul Hijjah sees the erecting of enormous 'tent cities' at Mina and Arafat, in preparation for the commencement of Hajj on the eighth day of the month. This is known as Yaum at-tarwiya, the 'Day of Watering', and it is on this day that the pilgrim prepares his own water store for the succeeding days of the pilgrimage. He then journeys to Mina to spend the night of Yaum at-tarwiya in the tent city there, and on the next day -- the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah -- the congregation of Islam musters at Arafat.
The 'Halt' or 'Standing' at Arafat (Wukuf) is the focal point of the Hajj. The Prophet ordered that all Muslims must journey there in an orderly and peaceful manner, to assemble by noon. Between midday and sunset the massed pilgrims stand at Arafat in joint prayer and meditation before walking from Arafat to the hill of Muzdalifah at sunset. The most devout prefer to make this procession on foot, but many choose motor transport instead.
At Muzdalifah, the pilgrims join in the evening prayers, before gathering the pebbles with which they will ritually stone the 'satans' at Mina on the following day.
The tenth day of Dhul Hijjah -- Yaum-an-Nahr, the 'Day of Sacrifice' can, in effect take up to three days, due to the vast crowds gathering around the 'satans'. Sacrifices begin after the Eid prayers in the morning and here the mutawwifs are of great service, helping pilgrims arrange the buying and slaughtering of their sacrificial animals.
After the sacrifice, pilgrims perform Tawaf Ifada, the ceremonial hair-cutting or head shaving. The pilgrim then emerges from the consecrated state of ihram which he entered on reaching miqat at the outset of his pilgrimage. Two or three more days -- the Ayyam at-tashriq -- will be required for the pilgrim to complete his Jamarat, and once this rite has been completed the pilgrim returns to Makkah to perform a farewell Tawaf of the Kaaba. He will then either head homewards via Jeddah, or will perhaps travel on to Al Madinah to visit the Mosque of the Prophet.
The Prophet's Farewell Pilgrimage in the year 632CE is said to have been attended by 200,000 Muslims and the annual numbers of pilgrims saw very little increase for over 13 centuries. Pilgrim access to Makkah was restricted to travel by ship to Jeddah and overland by foot and by camel. Official figures for the 1950 Hajj indicate only 250,000 pilgrims, but over the past 30 years, and more particularly in the past 15, pilgrim traffic has undergone a dramatic increase. The main reason for this has been the parallel growth of Saudia, the Kingdom's national airline, and the enormous boost to pilgrim air transport afforded by low-cost flights. Custom-built air transport facilities such as the Hajj Terminal at Jeddah's KAIA, the excellent modern road network developed in the Kingdom over the same period, and the expansion of port facilities at Jeddah have all contributed to ease of access for today's pilgrims.
Every year the Kingdom takes great pains to meet the needs of its pilgrims. Months of detailed planning, and an army of administrative staff, help keep the millions of pilgrims moving smoothly to their holy destinations, speeding them safely on their way once the pilgrimage is over. Thus, more than 1,300 years after the Prophet bequeathed the duty of Hajj to the faithful of Islam, the spirit of the world's greatest annual pilgrimage is more alive than ever.
